


Stay a bit longer

by Winter_of_tomorrow



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Jean/Hitch relationship, M/M, Rating May Change, Threesome, Threesome - M/M/M, established Marco/Eren relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-07-29 09:16:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7678813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winter_of_tomorrow/pseuds/Winter_of_tomorrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean needs a break. The job is exhausting and his girlfriend doesn't understand him. To get away, he decides to stay with his friend Marco, which is probably the best idea he had for a long time. </p>
<p>Slowly falling for his friend and his friend's roommate on the other hand isn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The worst Day

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back with a longer fanfiction! This time Eren/Jean/Marco because I love these idiots. I hope I will be able to update regularly but I can't promise anything x.x
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy!

Some nights were meant for fights, I decided. The thunderstorm over the city was reaching its peak with thunder and lightning bolts nearly at the same time, rain crashing against the window. If the storm outside was already this intense, the storm inside was even worse.

“You don’t even notice that you don’t have time for me anymore, do you? All you care about is your job”, Hitch complained. I sighed since I had heard this point at least three times this evening.

“Oh I’m sorry for earning money. Baby, I love you, okay? I just have to finish this presentation, it’s important.” The due was tomorrow. It had been clear from the beginning that the given time wasn’t enough. I would be able to finish it tonight, I knew it. However, I wouldn’t get much sleep, especially if Hitch kept going on and on to me.

“That’s what you’ve been saying the whole week. The company doesn’t own you, Jean! And on the weekends, you have only time for your friends. Do you even care about me? When had been the last time we had sex, do you even remember it? Last month?” Of course I was caring about her. We’ve been dating for nearly five years; one year of them in college. I had had a lot of girlfriends before but with Hitch, I knew she was the right one. Or better: Had thought. Since I had gotten a better position in his job two months ago, I didn’t have much time for his girlfriend left. I tried, I really tried to be a good partner and take time for her when I could afford it. In a few weeks, even this chaos would end. I had asked Hitch for some patience but apparently, her patience had run out weeks ago.

“Hitch…”, I began but was interrupted.

“Don’t “Hitch” me. I had thought you would have more time for me once we live together but you and your job and your friends!”

I had tried. I had really tried to keep a cool head, to end this fight without me beginning to shout and to get angry despite Hitch’s attitude. However, after three days of arguments about my job, I had enough.

“Since when have my friends become part of this argument?”, I shouted. I had never shouted at her before but this was the end of the line.

“You always spend more time with them than with me!”, my girlfriend shouted back. She had been shouting the whole time so it was no difference.

“Hitch”, I lowered his voice to a normal level, breathed in and said what I had been thinking the whole day: “I need some time off. Living together, especially in this situation of my new job… I’m sorry, Hitch.”

“You know what, Jean Kirschtein? Fuck you”, Hitch whispered, her face was red with rage and she was pretty close to killing me. Then stormed off to the door. I dared to breathe again when I heard the car engine outside becoming more distant and our shared apartment became quiet. I just noticed that it was the first time in two weeks I was alone.

However, I wanted to leave as soon as possible. My girlfriend could come back any minute, maybe she just drove to the next gas station or parking lot to cool down and when she comes back, she would beg me not to go. It had happened once before, last year and I had regretted not to stay away for a day or two because the next argument had followed the next day.

This time, I was going to do it right and wrote a short note that I planned on staying with friends, for a week or two, that I would message Hitch where I stayed but didn’t want any more contact. Just for these two weeks. At least, that was what I was planning. I could already see myself sleeping in the car tonight because everything went wrong.

Then, I started to pack his bag. There wasn’t much I needed, some clothes, toothbrush, towels and my laptop. When I realized, that the presentation was still waiting for me, I sighed. Of course I had to choose exactly this day to have a break in my relationship. This was going to become a sleepless night, maybe I could call sick and only send the presentation to my boss.

But I had time to think about that later. The most important thing for me now was to leave before Hitch came back because that would be really awkward.

Finally, I left our apartment – before Hitch returned – and I felt free. The last month I had felt like I was living in a too small space. Even now, I still felt boxed in but I could breathe again. Staying away was the best decision I had made in a few weeks, that’s for sure.

I had to walk a minute or two to the next street where my car was parked since there was no parking lot in front of the apartment. It was still raining, but not as much as before. After I had put the duffle and laptop bag in the trunk, I sat down in the seat and called my friend to find a place to stay.

I had known Marco for ages, since kindergarten. We kind of had had a rough start, to be honest, he had been the freckled Angel of the kindergarten who had been trying to befriend with the loud, chubby boy who would probably become an asshole, also known as me. And despite that, we hd become friends and had been inseparable until things changed in high school. I had hit puberty really early, so having a girlfriend was totally necessary. Girls had become suddenly so much more interesting, later I had noticed that sometimes I had forgotten about his friends completely. Like I said, everyone had known since kindergarten I was going to become an ass.

Only because Marco had kept in contact with me through the whole time, I had come to realize – at the end of highschool - that short-living-relationships with the next nice girl weren’t everything in life. It had all ended when I had asked out Hitch anyway. She had always been a girl I had found interesting and I had had a crush on her, so it had taken a long time until I had asked her. But even before that, I had gotten in contact with my friends again – apparently was that one of Hitch points why I never had time for her. Marco’s and my bound was surely not as strong as in high school or elementary school but I still could rely on him, that’s why calling him was the first thing that came to my mind.

If Marco could take me in, even if just for one night, I would have some time to figure out what to do next. Maybe Connie and Sasha or Reiner and Bertholdt.

“Hi Jean!”, chirped a voice happily despite the late hour, unmistakable Marcos.

“Hey”, I answered. I tried to sound not as tired and exhausted as I was feeling right now but failed miserably.

“Are you alright?”, my friend’s voice instantly changed into a worried tone. He always sensed when something was wrong, even though it was probably obviously in my case.

“Kind of”, I sighed, playing with the pack of cigarettes on the dashboard. I had been smoking for some time but had been able to stop in time, but Hitch always kept some of hers in my car. Thinking of her, I took it and put it in the glove box. “I had an argument with Hitch again and… I needed to get out, some time off. Can I stay at your place tonight? I can disappear tomorrow morning, if you want and---”

“It’s okay, Jean. You can even stay for longer than just tomorrow, if you don’t have other plans yet. But… a friend lives with me currently, so if that’s alright with you”, Marco explained. That was good. Very good. The imaginary image of sleeping in the car just vanished. And I didn’t mind another guest at all, so I gladly accepted his offer.

We said good-bye and I started the engine. It wasn’t going to be a long drive, Marco stayed close to Trost after college, he had found the job he had quit last winter here but had decided to stay anyway. He had once told me that he lived in a two-story apartment, and although we met quite often, he hadn’t been there yet. Well, that first-time-visit was going to be longer than expected.

The CD-player started automatically and rock music began to play quietly on the radio while the rain was still pattering on the windshield. At least the thunderstorm had stopped, but I had learned that it could come back any second. This year’s summer was maybe the worst summer I had experienced in my 23 years. The temperature hadn’t been over 30°C yet, it was raining every second day or even thunderstroms at night when the afternoon was unbearable hot because of the humidity. Though was only the middle of July, so maybe they would be lucky and have a real summer in August.

However, these hopes didn’t make it better that I had to leave the car and get my bag from the trunk when I reached the apartment complex and – oh wonder – the rain had become worse again. My clothes were soaked and uncomfortably cold by the time he had reached the door and had pressed the doorbell to Marco’s apartment. The door opened, revealing the staircase of the building.

“We’re up here, second floor!”, Marco shouted. Despite my stupid and now even soaking wet situation, it made me smile. I climbed up the stairs and…

… saw somebody he didn’t expect.

“Jäger?”

“Kirschtein?”

“You know each other?”, Marco tried to find out, although it was more than oblivious. No, I had guessed his second name. We ignored him, too confused by the current situation.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”, I asked. I hadn’t seen this guy since high school and hadn’t expected to meet him again. Especially here in Marco’s apartment.

“Well, I kind of live here with Marco? Hadn’t expected to see your face here. How long has it been, seven years? Marco, how do you know Jean?”

I eyed Eren to make sure it’s really him and yes, seven years surely had been a long time. The high school student I had known had surely grown up, but the messy hair and the big green eyes hadn’t changed. And that grin that pissed me off just by seeing it.

“I’ve known Jean since kindergarten, to be honest”, Marco explained with an apologetic smile, “I just never had the chance to introduce you to each other.”

“Then how do you know Eren? He wasn’t attending our school, was he?”

Marco shook his head but didn’t answer right away. He took a step to the side while gently pushing Eren out of the way to let me in. “Don’t you want to come in first? You look like you fell in a lake. Can I make you something to drink? Eren, would you please bring some towels?”

I gladly accepted the offer and followed Marco in the living room, muttering that I actually felt like I was nearly drowned in a lake and that I didn’t need anything.

When we all sat in the living room, Eren had brought a few towels and thrown them unceremonially at me, and Marco had brought tea for everyone, he continued.

“I’ve met Eren at the swim club during college, right at the beginning, but he wasn’t at the same college, only same high school. I honestly didn’t know that you knew each other.”

Eren shrugged with his shoulders. “We don’t “really” know each other, I guess. We played in the same high school football team, Jean in group B and I in group A because I wasn’t in the same year.”

“They put us in training together, despite the difference in strength. Of course we couldn’t win.”

“Because your team sucked, Kirschstein.”

“Shut up”, I hissed. This was nothing new. Our coaches had put us on the bench during our games because we had been fighting, the whole time, a few black eyes, bruises, we had never given away a good moment to throw fists. I hoped that we had both grown up. Apparently not a lot, taking Erens teasing as a starting point, but hopefully enough to survive this one or two weeks.

“Alright, its late. You can stay in my room, we have a spare mattress in Erens room, I’ll quickly show you where to find everything”, Marco cut off our little argument.

“Thanks. I have to finish some stuff for work tomorrow”

“Hmm.. I don’t have a desk in my room. I think kitchen would be the easiest. I’ll show you, but first let’s get your stuff in my room.”

The tour was pretty short since there wasn’t much to see: In the second floor were two bed rooms and a bathroom, in the first floor were the kitchen and the living room, not much but surely enough for two people. Well, three now, including me. Marco also explained me how the coffee machine worked and where to find everything in the kitchen, in case I was going to stand up before the other two were awake.

I thanked Marco again for his kindness and for letting me stay, then said good night and Marco disappeared upstairs where Eren had wandered off after our talk.

When I spread out my papers and laptop on the table, I slowly realized that I would need a strong coffee to survive this.

Until dawn, it became six cups of coffee.


	2. The morning after

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a long night comes a short day for Jean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much about updating regulary... Sorry about that. But next chapter for you, hope, you enjoy it!

When I had been a teenager, I had been sure: When I’d become a grown-up, I would have an amazing girlfriend, a nice, huge apartment, an awesome job. And I would never ever become one of these people who were having an all-nighter just because of their job. I would never do something like that.

Well, same me ten years later chug down the sixth cup of coffee after working all night. The most frustrating thing had surely been the chirping of the birds outside around four in the morning. I had even seen the sun going up gradually because the kitchen window was on the eastern side of the building, like a religious experience or some shit. The caffeine had stopped working a long time ago and rereading the presentation had been useless. The letters had started to grin at me. I was sure that the Q hat stuck out its tongue.

It wasn’t like I had never done an all-nighter before. High school, college, even after I had started working, some parties just weren’t meant to end early. However, back then, nobody had expected me to be productive after no sleep at all.

It was the worst.

“Oh my god, Jean, please please don’t tell me you worked all night long!”, Marco sighed. I hadn’t noticed him coming into the kitchen. Though I was sure that even if a train was going through the apartment, I wouldn’t notice. Just wonder why my laptop would make strange noises. I put the cup to my lips to take another gulp of coffee and avoid a conversation when I realized that I had just drunk it all.

“It’s important…”, I mumbled.

“Still. You have to bring it to your workplace?”, freckles walked past me to the fridge, took out a carton of eggs and bacon and put them next to the cooking range. He was wearing sweatpants and a wrinkled t-shirt, it didn’t look like he was planning to go out to work soon.

“In one hour, yes. Have to talk with my boss about it… shit, I really don’t want to go, I feel like I haven’t slept in year, I won’t survive it…”

“I’ll drive you. Eren has to get to work as well. I bring first Eren and then you to work and wait until you’ve finished.”

“I don’t want to make you more work than necessary, I can drive---”, I tried to explain but was interrupted by a “shuuu” and the sweet honest smile of Marco Bodt.

“It’s settled. And now get ready, I make breakfast. Eren should have finished showering by now, if you want to take one yourself.” The eggs made a sizzle when Marco cracked them into the pan to the fried bacon.

“I heard my name, did I miss anything? Jean… you look like shit”, Eren commented. When had he come in the kitchen? Probably just a second ago. And for some reason he stood now next to me, one hand on my shoulder, and was looking at the stack of papers on the table next to the open presentation on my laptop display. 

A water drop from Eren’s hair dropped on the table. He was only wearing shorts, his hair was still wet from the shower. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, maybe the early hour of the day, but I was suddenly very aware of the half-naked body next to me. Like, why am I still awake and what had happened in these seven years.  The lean body revealed the outline of his muscles, abs and pecs, Eren was so close that I could smell the faint clean scent of soap. It wasn’t the first time I had seen Eren shirtless, it had been normal to train soccer without tricots in summer, and I had seen him afterwards in the changing rooms. It was nothing new. Maybe it was because I had actually never seen a male body in my age from close up? My mind was too hazed to think about it clearly anyway.

“That’s the thing you’ve been working on? Do you even know English? There are at least three mistakes on this slide.” I was ready to bark at Eren because I knew that this was probably shit but giving that to his boss was one million time better than giving nothing at all. I had worked all fucking night, of course it wasn’t perfect. I was ready to scream this at Eren, but the man continued.

“Do you want me to read it?”

“If… if you want to?”, I stammered. That was surely an unexpected turn. Since when was Eren Jäger that nice? Or this was just imaginary because of my lack of sleep. Holy shit, the caffeine of six cups of coffee had surely hit me hard.

“Then go to the shower, change clothes and whatever you do before going to work, I’ll work my way through… this”, he patted my shoulder before he walked up behind Marco, and from what I could see in the corner of my eye, he was nearly sticking to Marco. And I could see his back and the way his muscles flexed under his skin. “Good morning! What do we get?”

I didn’t hear Marco’s answer anymore because I was already on the way to my… Marco’s room. I was grateful that Eren would beta-read my presentation and give me some time to shower, so I wasn’t going to sit in the kitchen and wait forever.

A dress-shirt, the pants from last night, fresh underwear. Toothbrush and other stuff. Marco had mentioned that there were towels in the bathroom for me. What had he said? The orange ones were the guest-towel? Probably. I carried all my stuff into the bathroom hastily, I couldn’t remember another morning when I had had such a strong desire to shower and clean off the stress from last night. Maybe the one night after our exams, but that had been because Connie had puked on my shirt.

I felt much better afterwards, especially after I had showered the last minute with ice cold water. Hell was real, for sure, but the chances that I would survive this presentation had increased, even if it was just a bit.

It seemed like Eren has already lived here for quite a while. There were crèmes, shampoos, and showering gels at the basin and in the shower that had to belong to two different people. And just by the way they stood there, I was sure of it. And at least one of them had his clothes lying on the floor. Probably Eren, the Marco I knew was pretty tidy.

When I left the bathroom, the smell of fried food filled the apartment and the clacking of plates and flatware was heard. The radio had been turned on, the news reminded me of the time and that I had to hurry. I brought his clothes from yesterday and the night back in my room before I joined the other two man in the kitchen.

Eren had sat down on the worktop with a plate of food on his thighs. He hadn't bothered to put on a shirt yet, which was still unusual for me. I wouldn't walk around like that if my friends were at Hitch’s and my place, but Eren didn't seem to mind at all.

"You're back!", Eren grinned at me. Marco turned around and smiled as he gave me a plate filled with food. Although it was only bacon and eggs, it looked delicious and I muttered a thank you.

"I've read through your presentation, I think I found all mistakes. Man, I hadn't thought that I would ever correct your---"

"Oh shut up and let me eat" I pushed the papers on the table on one stack, making space for Eren and Marco to sit down as well. The shirtless man stayed at his place on the countertop, swinging his legs to the music. Marco sat down next to me.

We weren't talking while eating. I was glad about it. The new motivation from showering was already losing its effect, right now I only wanted to sleep. Just one or two hours, I thought, then I could just do that.

Eren disappeared into the second floor again after some time, and while Marco filled the dish washer, I collected all my stuff for work. When Eren came back - finally fully clothed - we were ready to go.

I didn't notice much of our car ride. The two men in the front seats were discussing dinner plans and grocery shopping, casual things that I didn't pay attention to. Despite the sleep deprivation, it was kind of nice. Hitch tended to talk a lot during our car rides, asking a lot of questions, no matter if I was busy or not.

Speaking of Hitch, I should write her a message. Maybe she was already worried about me. Or maybe she was still sleeping because her shift today was in the afternoon. The message could wait, I decided.

Eren's workplace was our first stop.I realized that he had actually no idea where Eren was working. Our re-introduction last night had been very short and the only thing I really knew about Eren that he had  been playing soccer in high school and had an attractive sister. And was an asshole.

Before he left the car, Eren looked at Marco, then glanced at Jean and gave Marco a smile that looked somehow apologetically.

"Well, see you later. Don't fall asleep, okay, Kirschtein?", he said before he headed to the building. The sign said something about computers and technic, I would have to ask this evening what exactly he was doing if I haven’t forgotten it until then.

As we started driving again, I had expected that it would be just as quiet as before but Marco had other plans.

"Can... I ask you about Hitch?"

“Not really. Maybe later.”

Marco had both eyes back on the road and nodded. I was glad that he didn’t press the topic any further - Marco would never do this to begin with - because I really had other problems. And falling asleep wasn’t even the worst.

When we reached the agency where I was working at, Marco stopped the car at the side of the road. “I’ll wait here, okay?”, he suggested.

“You don’t have to. It will take at least one hour, I can take the bus to get back.” Marco was too kind, always.

“I have nothing to do at home anyway. I mean, I would usually be asleep at that time, so it’s really no problem for me. Now go and show your work to your boss, Jean. You can do it!”, Marco encouraged me.

“If you really want to… But don’t whine when you have to wait.” I left the car and waved my friend a last time before I entered the building.

It took more than one hour until everything was finished, my boss was happy with my presentation and my scribbles I did for the upcoming project, there was no urgent job for me and I got out. The faster, the better. I had worked enough overtime to call it quits today. Not to forget that horrible night.

And Marco was still waiting. I threw my laptop – gently of course – back in the trunk before I sat down next to Marco with a sigh.

“How did it go?”

“Good enough to keep my job, I guess”, I explained. I didn’t know how I had managed not to fall asleep in this hour but right now, a wave of relief and tiredness washed over me.

“I want to go home”, I mumbled. Marco chuckled softly.

“Is my and Eren’s apartment okay as well?”

“Probably better” It was out of my mouth before I could even think about it properly. It sounded wrong, my girlfriend, my love was in my apartment, my home; however, it was true in that moment.

I didn’t remember much of the ride back to their apartment. This night had fucked me up that badly, I swore to myself to never do something like that again.

And when we had reached our destination, I shattered the clothes and my bag somewhere in Marco’s room, changed into an old t-shirt and went to bed. It definitely smelled like Marco. I mean, I’ve known him for a couple of years now, it’s only natural to know how somebody smells. And there was another scent, weaker than Marcos, that I didn’t know. It felt like I had smelt it just today but before I could think further, I fell asleep.

* * *

 

"Hey Jean", a soft voice woke me up. The room was darker than it had been when I had fallen asleep, but I couldn't say how long I had been asleep.

"Good evening!", the voice said, clearly Marco. Groggily, I turned around to see him sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Hey", I mumbled, my voice rough from sleep, "How long have I been asleep?"

"About seven hours, I guess. It's six p.m. and we're making dinner. You're going to join us? We're making spaghetti with tomato sauce, if you want to."

Food sounded nice, really nice. I realized that I hadn't eaten anything since what I had this morning in a rush. My stomach answered with a growl before I could say anything. Marco laughed, and stood up. "We think about eating in twenty minutes. See you later then."

When Marco had left the room, I sat up and rubbed the last bit of sleep out of my eyes. My sleep rythm was now pretty much fucked up but I had needed the sleep. I was going to manage it somehow.

As I was searching for my jeans I had thrown somewhere before, I looked around in Marco's room. I had seen already seen it yesterday but now I had some more time. The curtains were closed, that's why it was already dark in the room. It wasn't big. A bed, a armoire and two shelves, but everything one needed. There were some drawings at the walls as well as a few photos.

I had found my clothes in between and was ready to go down to the kitchen. But before I could leave the room, my mobile started ringing. I caught a glimpse of the display under the call pop-up and it said something about a few missed calls and some messages. Since when was I that wanted? Looking at the caller id made it clear and I accepted the call.

"Jean?", Hitch asked, her voice was heavy, like she had cried or was crying and I felt instantly guilty.

"Yeah"

"You said you'd send me a message." There was it again. The complaining, tauting sound in her voice. Though she was right.

"Sorry, Hitch, I had no time at all, I would have informed you tonight. Don't cry, please.", I sat back down on the bed and combed one hand through my hair. It was probably sleep-tousled and I should comb it.

"Where are you?", she asked, her voice was breaking again.

"I'm staying with Marco"

When I heard no comment immediately, I thought the line was dead. Then I heard a quiet sob.

"Please come back, Jean", my girlfriend whispered.

I was close. So close to forget the fight we had had last night, to forget the doubts about our relationship. She nearly had me.

"Sorry, I... I still need some time. Figure some things out. I can't say when I'll come back to you, but it's going to be alright, Hitch, okay?" Was I lying? I didn't know.

"I love you, Jean."

“Yeah... me, too. Have to go, bye."

I ended the call, put my mobile asside and hid my face in both hands. What was I doing here? I felt kind of sick, whatever was happening in Hitch and mine relationship... I started to have doubts and it scared me. She was the girl I wanted to marry soon.

"Jean, if you don't move your lousy ass down here, we'll start without you", Eren shouted from the kitchen. For some reason I had to smile. Maybe it was a smile of desperation.

In the kitchen, Marco and Eren were already waiting for me. It felt really nice, to be honest.   
"Come on, come on come on! I'm starving", Marco's roommate whined, his head laid down on the table.

"Sorry, Hitch was calling", I admitted and sat down. The dinner smelled wonderfully and I was once again reminded that I hadn't eaten since breakfast.

"Did you break up?", Eren asked. Marco gave him a disapproving look but he shrugged his shoulders,

"What? Things happen."

"We didn't break up", I explained before this idiot was going to jump into conclusions, "I need a break, I'm sure it will be better afterwards." Eren looked at me with a raised eyebrow, then shrugged his shoulders again and continued eating.

"I hope the best for you and your girlfriend"

"Thanks, Marco. Why is this such a mess?", I muttered to myself, then asked: "You don't have a girlfriend, do you?"

Eren looked up from his plate again, his green big eyes stared at me, then at Marco who had a light blush on his cheeks and gave a helpless smile to Eren, then back to me and back to Marco.

"You... haven't told him at all?", he questioned incredulously.

"It uh... never came up in any conversion, I think..."

Eren leaned back in his chair and grinned.

"Well, but honestly, Jean is blind in this topic. sorry Jean but it's true. Neither Marco or I have a girlfriend. We're dating each other."


End file.
